If so, what (if anything) did you decide to do? I am taking a bunch of immune boosting supplements and avoiding sugars. We are thinking that we won't do the antibiotic unless I have a second risk factor, PROM, fever, or if I go into labor before 37 weeks. I HATE this.

I am and will be doing antibiotics as long as I arrive early enough. They wanted me to have a heplock in place anyway (Hospital VBAC), so I might as well have something hooked up to it from time to time.

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I am and it's the only thing making me slightly nervous about the homebirth. Still though, I'm avoiding internal exams, doing probiotics, and we'll keep a close eye on her once she arrives. Any sign of fever etc would be immediate transfer.

Sigh. Grumble. Yes.
I will be doing the antibiotics...better me than him, I guess (and that's the protocol at the hospital--either mom gets antibiotics or baby does, plus a longer hospital stay).

ProtoLawyer (the now-actual lawyer, this isn't legal advice, please don't take legal advice from some anonymous yahoo on the Internet)Spouse (the political geek) * Stepdaughter (the artist) * and introducing...the Baby (um, he's a baby? He likes shiny things).

My last baby had an unknown infection even though I tested - for GBS (although I have a hunch it was a false negative).

Believe me, the antibiotics you would need to take during labor are NOTHING compared to what your baby goes through with an infection. To get antibiotics as a newborn, you can't imagine how hard it is. Starting an IV on a newborn is horrid and torturing...but lifesaving in our case.

Anyway, don't beat yourself up about having to take antibiotics. I don't want anyone to have to go through what we went through. It was a nightmare.

Christian, wife, and homeschooling mama to 3 wild boys! New baby due 8/2/10!

My last baby had an unknown infection even though I tested - for GBS (although I have a hunch it was a false negative).

Believe me, the antibiotics you would need to take during labor are NOTHING compared to what your baby goes through with an infection. To get antibiotics as a newborn, you can't imagine how hard it is. Starting an IV on a newborn is horrid and torturing...but lifesaving in our case.

Anyway, don't beat yourself up about having to take antibiotics. I don't want anyone to have to go through what we went through. It was a nightmare.

I am sure this is all very true, but from what I've read, the antibiotics given during labor have not even been shown to be all that effective.

Ina May does a great job discussing this in Spiritual Midwifery. And, have you read the article on mothering on whether or not to take the antibiotics. It's really informative.

I am and it's the only thing making me slightly nervous about the homebirth. Still though, I'm avoiding internal exams, doing probiotics, and we'll keep a close eye on her once she arrives. Any sign of fever etc would be immediate transfer.

So you are foregoing the antibiotics? From what I understand, at my hospital, if I don't get them, they will simply monitor baby really closely and any sign of infection will mean a NICU transfer, which is what scares me so much. The reading I have done definitely leans toward not taking them, but I hate having to make the decision at all.

So you are foregoing the antibiotics? From what I understand, at my hospital, if I don't get them, they will simply monitor baby really closely and any sign of infection will mean a NICU transfer, which is what scares me so much. The reading I have done definitely leans toward not taking them, but I hate having to make the decision at all.

Homebirth & gbs+ over here. I've opted out of antibiotics but will be doing hibiclens rinses when I (finally) go into labor (c'mon baby!). I chose to opt out of antibiotics because research shows no difference in colonization/illness rates between the two options.

What is does show, however, is that there is a chance that should a newborn become colonized & ill, the same antibiotics they will need to fight group b infection have a greater risk of being ineffective due to a built in resistance (from having received them prior to birth). This scares the bejeezus out of me, because if my newborn falls ill, this is when the antibiotics will be most important and necessary.

On a anecdotal level, I was gbs+ with my first born and received antibiotics. We both received nasty yeast infections from it and my boy developed a major case of thrush, which spread to my nipples, as well. I also contribute his colicky behavior to receiving antibiotics, as the good bacteria that would naturally develop & flourish in his gut was destroyed along with the bad bacteria we were trying to avoid.

Hibiclens is not the standard recommended by the CDC, but it is used far and wide over seas & has garnered similar results as antibiotic use.

I'm a Doula and my last mom had GBS+ test. I didn't know much about GBS (I'm a very new Doula) and I found some very interesting stuff. I happen to also be prego and asked my Doula/now a midwife her thoughts, and she said that out off all the moms she knew, almost all of them were able to 'get rid' of the GBS with the hibiclens, only one mom that she has ever worked with continued to be GBS+ after hibiclens and immune boosters.

If I am GBS+, I'm going to go that route, and cross the antibiotic bridge when I have to. I have seen some studies by Cochrane University that showed no difference in newborns from moms treated with antibiotics in labor or not.

I've also seen studies comparing hibiclens with antibiotics in labor, and they have similar results....so, if antibiotics ARE needed and I can't get rid of GBS, I'll probably do the hibiclens in labor too.

Just some thoughts for y'all to toss around! I'm a HBAC, but if i was in a hospital, I SO would hate having an IV, as it straps me to another object and I'm always more concerned with not wanting to bother the IV site, so movement is always more awkward.

But it's a mom's choice, and I just pray that moms are able to make their own choices based on their own research and not based on what a bunch of people tell them, be it a care provider or not.

I was not tested with this pregnancy, but I was + with my last one (baby #3- first 2 were negative). I'm home birthing, and my midwife doesn't offer antibiotics. I will be doing the Hibiclens rinse when labor starts. Even though I don't know if I really am + for GBS, she said it won't hurt to just do it anyway. So that's the plan!